Masquerades
by JamesSunderlandsPillow
Summary: On the night of a Halloween party, Leni can't get into the spirit of the season because of lingering issues with a friend. However, she may be in for a treat with the help of some strange and spooky faces. (I do not own The Loud House).


Reininger's, Night.

Leni Loud lets out a wistful sigh, leaning over the sales counter with nothing but the feeling of its cold porcelain against her skin and the faint music playing in the air to keep her company tonight. Not even the lyrics to "Witches in Bikinis" can get her into the Halloween Spirit right now, though. She just feels too crummy and sad about everything else. First of all, she has to be here of all places just two nights before Halloween, working a closing shift at the only store in the mall that seemingly lacks any holiday spirit. Except for the table of Christmas sweaters that are already on display, but that's only because Ms. Carmichael is trying to keep up with planogram integrity. Heaven forbid any of her teenage employees be allowed to hang up some paper bats or be allowed to give out candy to children.

Not that children come here anyway. In fact, Leni hasn't had any customers since the after-work rush. And it was hardly a rush, just Scoots coming in to exchange some bloomers that she claimed 'ride harder than her power scooter.' Yeah. Totes not fon.

No, it's just been her for the last two hours of her shift. And considering what went down with her friends yesterday, that's probably for the best. It's been on her mind all day, eating her up and driving her hazy with guilt. She doesn't want to make things worse, so she's kept her phone on silent all day, only checking it once to see a message from Lincoln reminding her that she can always talk to him if she needed anything. Which she knows to be true.

Like a diligent employee, now a big time Support Manager, Leni has used the slow day to go around her departments zoning, recovering, and even making a couple mannequin displays here and there, all to the soundtracks of Halloweentown and Hocus Pocus. At least Tanya can have some company this way.

But even in retail a person can run out of things to do to pass the time, so Leni decides to use the last ten minutes of her shift to just relax and take it easy. She lets out yet another sigh as she looks up to the clock, seeing as 7:50 turns to 7:51 very slowly. At first, it excites her to think that she'll soon be able to just go home and unwind, possibly even have some fun with her siblings before everyone goes to bed. But then a far less amusing thought creeps like a nasty spider into her mind. What are her friends up to? Are they doing okay? What about Miguel? What about… Fiona?

Sooner or later she has to say something. And if she won't text Leni first, she'll take the initiative to do it. So she decides to go ahead and reach for her smartphone, unlock it, pull up her messaging app, find their shared thread, and…

_Thud_

It makes the girl freeze. She isn't sure if she even really heard anything, or if maybe it was just her imagination. Even so, the possibility that she isn't alone in her store anymore frightens her. Especially this late at night. What if… Oh gosh… what if it's someone wanting her to get some shoes from the back? She already counted down her till!

She tries not to get super anxious, but at the same time her curiosity beats her. She can't help but call out, "Hello! Is there anybody there?"

She gets silence in response, and while part of it eases her mind, part of it also scares her more! What if she makes her way out the door, and just as she has her back turned, someone with an expired coupon sneaks up behind her?! She's not allowed to accept those! The horror!

Ms. Carmichael trusts her as her Support Manager. Her siblings trust her as the "air to Lori," whatever being the air to someone means. Hopefully they're not calling her a fart, but they all seem really happy about it, so she just trusts that they mean something good when they all say that. The point is, if those people can believe in her, she can believe in herself enough to step out from behind her counter to go investigate whatever it is making a ruckus in her store!

She cautiously pussyfoots her way around the bends, looking through clothing racks and mannequins to get better looks of every angle Reininger's has to offer. And yet she finds nothing. So she scratches her head, considering the strong possibility that after such a long day, maybe her mind is just playing tricks on her. She even lets out a little laugh as she takes it upon herself to look to the clock, seeing that it is 7:59 now.

"Welp, I guess it's time to head home," she thinks aloud, and she turns to make her way over to-

"BOO!"

"AHHHHHHHH!" Leni shrieks, the hair practically raising from her head as she comes face to face with a creepy, spooky skeleton! It smiles wickedly at her in a way she recognizes all too well, and when she realizes it's the braces and the buck teeth that make the smile so familiar, she settles down just enough to rest her hand over her now racing heart to catch her breath. All while Luan laughs it up.

"Hahaha, hahaha!"

The older Loud sister frowns. "It's not funny, Luan! You really scared me!" she sternly asserts.

Luan, guised as Jack the Pumpkin King, just keeps laughing before wiping a single tear from her eye. "Oh man, I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist!" she apologizes before getting the last of her laughter out, much to the lack of amusement from Leni. Eventually she cools down though. "So hey, how's it going, Len? Did you have a _scary _good time today? Or was it more _boo- _oring?"

The blonde rolls her eyes before sighing her third listless sigh this evening. "It was pretty boo-oring," she simply answers. She could add that she also felt pretty icky coming in in the first place, or that she feels really nervous about where she stands with her two best friends, but she decides to just TL;DR herself. If Luan really wants to know, or if she really even notices, she'll ask.

The young comedienne smiles a rather weak smile in response, the kind that shows that maybe she does notice. "Well, I may have something that might help lift your _spirits _up!"

Leni raises an inquisitive brow. "I was gonna say… What are you doing here so late anyway?"

Luan simply smiles. "Oh, well we just came over from Edge Topic, and we thought we'd come over and-"

Before she can finish, Leni is shrieking a blood curdling "AHHHHH!" again, this time because a certain emo girlfriend of Luan's happened to sneak up on her from behind.

"Maggie! That really wasn't nice!" Leni scolds over her scaring her.

Maggie just rolls her eyes. "I wasn't even trying to scare you! I swear…" she cursingly trails off, failing to sympathize over the fact that Leni already gets easily startled and that her Sally make-up might be just a little jarring.

"As I was saying," Luan tactfully interrupts, "Maggie and I have been trying to find some stockings to go with our costumes, and we figured Reininger's would have some animal friendly products."

As Leni's fear fades from her, that same despondence as before reemerges, and she hunches as she makes her way over to find some stockings that will work for the girls. "Yeah. Yeah, let me get you some…"

Something is wrong, and the underclassmen can feel it. Even Maggie, being the nonconformist emo she's proud to be, senses the depression from the normally enthusiastic girl. And it makes her frown just as it does for Luan.

"Hey, seriously for a second. No funny business. What's wrong?" she asks her as she starts ringing up the stockings at the register.

She thoughtfully hums to herself, contemplating whether or not it's worth going into. Maybe if it wasn't so late into her shift she would consider taking up the opportunity to vent, but considering that she can soon forget about Reininger's for the rest of the night, and the fact that she doesn't have her sister to herself at the moment, she decides against it. "Don't worry about it. It's nothing," she fibs, hanging her head lowly as she completes Luan's transaction.

Luan looks to Maggie as if to find something better to work with, but regretfully, she too doesn't know what else to do, and it shows with a shrug and a wince. But that doesn't stop her from trying to come up with some way to remedy her sister's woes. "Well, if you don't feel like talking about it, I won't make you the _recipient _of more trouble," she wisecracks.

"That was weak. Like, Stage Plight weak," Maggie interrupts with some venom in her words.

"Some people actually liked that episode!"

"I didn't."

"Anyway…" Luan starts again, hoping not to turn an ant hill into a mountain, "I still might have an idea for something that might make you feel a little more chipper. Me and Maggie are heading over to Carol Pingrey's Halloween Boo-Gie. Everyone at school is invited. Maybe you'd like to come with us?" she invites Leni with a smile.

It makes her a little happy to see that her sister is making the effort to try and help her feel better, but not enough to really change how she feels. No, she's thoroughly sad, and not even a party sounds good right now.

"Oh, I don't know… I kind of thought about just going home and catching up on other stuff…"

"You mean watching a sad Lifetime movie and eating ice cream, don't you?" Luan hazards to guess. She proves not to be so far off either as Leni sighs.

"Yes…"

She wanted to let sleeping dogs lie, but it really isn't normal for Leni of all people to be so somber. She's usually the brightest soul in the room, and right now her lights burns dimmest, even compared to Maggie; a girl who may seem careless and angry, but deep down is very loving. She's proven that many times by being their for Luan in their darkest moments. It's that thought that compels Luan to risk pushing a little harder. "Leni, come on. What's going on? I promise whatever it is we won't laugh. Isn't that right, Mags?"

Normally, the ravenette would likely make some sort of curt rebuttal just to spite her girlfriend. But seeing the seriousness in her eyes with the way she looks at her tells her that she needs to be supportive right now, so she just softly nods. "Yeah, Len. Whatever it is, we want to help."

It isn't often Maggie shows this brand of compassion to anyone, even the girl she loves most in Luan. And while Leni finds herself still a bit apprehensive to confess just how she's really feeling, why she really feels it… there's this inescapable desire within to just set herself free from the burden she carries. And with two pairs of caring eyes looking to her with a warm smile from Luan to truly complement them, she decides that keeping this pain to herself is worse than feeling embarrassed. She knows she won't be denied tonight. Not by her own flesh and blood.

She deeply inhales before shying her own eyes away, still a little nervous to get into it. "Okay. I'll tell you what's wrong. But, please don't laugh. It's gonna sound kind of silly…"

Luan doesn't get offended. She knows well enough that her sense of humor is often her hubris. "Trust me, Leni. I won't make jokes. Cross my heart," she tells the girl with a matching gesture.

They both look to Maggie as if to get her blessing as well. It takes her a second to get with the program, but when she does, she does in with her usual flavor. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, cross my heart, got it."

With that, Leni knows now what she must do. It won't be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is, she once heard. She doesn't remember _where _she heard it from, but she just remembers it sounded really cool and insightful. Like a crossword puzzle or something.

Her heart races as she readies herself to say the incriminating words, partly because of fear, but partly because of empowerment. Like there's really liberation to be found in truth. And with that racing heart comes a serious case of flapping gums, because once she gets started, she really lays it all on the line, hardly stopping to even catch her breath.

"Okay, so here's the sitch. Yesterday at lunch; me, Fiona, and Miguel were all hanging out like we always do, and everything was going fine. But then VoM came up. Vampires of Melancholia."

"Ugh, I hate when people call it VoM," Maggie gruffly states, earning her a scowl from Luan.

They disregard her cynicism to let Leni continue. "Well, we all really like the show. It kind of helped us all become friends, actually. We would talk about it during slow shifts at work and stuff, and for a while, it was a lot of fun. But somewhere along the line, it just got… hard…"

She feels herself tensing up. She's used to being made to feel stupid, but it isn't ever easy. Especially when she _knows _she's being stupid. Like she should be better. Even so, she's so sick and tired of feeling alone with these thoughts, and she knows Luan won't judge her. At least to her face.

So she bucks up and keeps going, finally getting to the knitty gritty of her long story short. "See, I like the idea of Tristin getting together with Sunny. It's my OTP," she explains.

"OTP?" Luan asks, raising a brow.

"My One True Pairing. You know, like my main ship."

Luan and Maggie both find themselves a little confused, but they don't derail the conversation by asking for further explanation on the foreign jargon. Instead, they just pay close attention as Leni details what happened between her friends.

"Like, I know they've never even been in the show together, but I just think they'd be really cute together! Their characters would go together really well! Kind of like you two," she casually adds, not intending to fluster both girls, but succeeding very well anyway. They don't make a bigger deal of it though. They just keep listening and Leni keeps going. "Well… I've liked the ship for a while. Even before I knew Miguel and Fiona. But… a little after I met them, Fiona started shipping Tristin and Isabelle. There was an episode where they became friends, and I really liked it! But, I never thought people would ship them, ya know? I never thought Fiona would…"

The sadness in her tone is evident enough that whatever confusion or secret judgment Luan and Maggie pass to themselves gets forgotten as they do their best to empathize with her, remaining attentive as they learn more.

"At first I thought she just kind of liked it, ya know? But over time, she changed it to her phone wallpaper, she would always bring it up when we talk about new episodes… And then one day she told me she feels bad about how I always talk about Tristin and Sunny! Like I'm somehow a bad guy for liking what I like, you know?" She keeps herself from getting too frustrated as she stays on track to finish the story. "Yesterday I finally had enough of it, and I snapped. Miguel started going on about his headcanon that Stan is a Werewolf, which literally no one else thinks about, and then Fiona started talking about Trisabella, and I snapped!"

Seeing this seldom stirred up side of Leni makes Luan and Maggie both widen their eyes with surprise... and worry. Finally, Luan speaks up again to muster the words: "What do you mean you snapped?"

Leni heaves a heavy sigh, the remorse obvious in her gait. "I told them how sad- how angry it makes me. I used to really like this show. I used to really like talking about these things with them. Now? Now I just feel bad. I shouldn't be annoyed by them for liking what they like, but at the same time, I feel like my ship is wrong now. I hate it…" she bemoans, trailing off with heartbreak as she leans her head in her hands over the counter, forlornly gazing at the faint silhouette of a reflection gazing back at her in the plexiglass. "All because of a stupid show…"

Maggie and Luan both gaze at one another with similar somberness in their eyes. They've been together on melancholy hill before, but never quite like this. Never with someone _else _being the victim of such crummy feelings. Together, they've conquered even their darkest demons. Together, they've helped one another grow stronger and fight away all of their fears. Because of that, they're sort of used to feeling this way. Because of that, they quickly snuff any feelings of doubt or inconfidence. Leni needs a guiding hand, and she won't just get one, she'll get two from this duo of sad saps.

"Wow. I- I'm really sorry, Leni," Luan begins to get things in motion.

Maggie piggybacks off her energy with her own apology. "Yeah… Seriously, Len. Sorry that this happened."

It won't be enough to just apologize if they really want to make a difference though. They know that. So Luan takes initiative, being the girl's family, and begins digging deeper. "Look, I can't pretend to know what it's like to be in your situation. I didn't even know what shipping was until now, to be honest," she admits with a little laugh before getting back to business. "I do know that you're such an awesome person though. Not just to me, but to everyone!"

"No I'm not. I'm pooey," Leni retorts, so listless that she doesn't even raise her head or her voice.

Luan won't have it though. "But you are! You're always the first to come to someone's aid when something bad happens," she tells her with enthusiasm and conviction. The enthusiasm wanes with her following words, but not her compassion. "No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone gets angry. It happens to the best of us. And the worst of us…" she says, her eyes sinking to the floor as she sorrowfully rubs her arm, thinking thoughts that she's thought all too often about her own self.

But just like all the times she began feeling this way since meeting her Maggie May, the black haired girl lets her know that none of those thoughts are true as she rests her little pale hand over her shoulder, reassuringly rubbing it to let her know that she's loved. A smile even graces her Sally painted face, and her Pumpkin King returns a smile of her own before using this positive energy to help their friend in need.

"I'm sure you can work things out with Fiona. If you just tell her how you're feeling now, I know she'll understand. I know you'll do your part to make things right, and, well… I don't know Fiona all that well," she pauses, taking a moment to look back to Maggie. "But trust me. Some girls that frown are just looking for someone to make them smile."

It was cheesy, Maggie knows it as she has to shake her head. But she also knows that it wasn't just true, but that a lot of love went into it. So she smiles again, and like Luan before her, she decides to use this newfound mirth to channel it onto Leni.

"Listen Leni, ditch the pink hoodie and ice cream for something new and exciting. I really think it will help you feel better to change your pace a little," she tells her girlfriend's sister. "If you want, you can go to the party and I'll go home and eat ice cream in my hoodie," she jokingly adds.

Luan gives her a _look. _"We went through too much trouble with your makeup to go home now. And besides, they're not playing anything scary tonight. Just Michael Myers movies."

"Eww. Fine…" Maggie groans before smiling again. "I do like the way you look as Jack."

"And you make a very lovely Sally," her girlfriend replies, feeling her white painted cheeks warm up with crimson blush.

Seeing her sister and her beloved girlfriend being so sweet together brings a warmth to Leni's chest that she hasn't felt all day. Nothing brings her these fuzzy feelings quite like the image of these two seemingly different, all too the same girls coming together. The love between them, whether they make it obvious or not, radiates like an autumn day. At the same time, it does bring pangs of sadness to her heart to think that she and her best friend Fiona can't be on such good terms. For weeks, all they shared were laughs. Whether it was bonding over things like VoM and clothes, or just gossiping about people at work and school, they made each other smile. Like, all the time… Here lately, things just aren't right.

And while Leni has tried wrapping her head around every possible option to try and make things better, one thing she hadn't considered until just now is just taking some time to make some comfortable distance. The more she considers it though, maybe it's for the best. Maybe what she needs to do tonight is not to dance to remember, but to dance to forget.

"Thanks for listening to me guys. You're the best," she tells them before belatedly and proudly standing upright, ready to throw a fist in the air. "You know what? I'll go to the party with you!"

"That's the spirit!" Luan proclaims, earning her scorn from Maggie.

"Enough with the puns already! It's bad enough you still talk to that puppet of yours, but you're just being stubborn with the puns," she curtly tells her.

Luan frowns. "First of all, I wasn't trying to make a pun. I'll claim it, but still! And second, you leave Mr. Coconuts out of this! You know how I feel about stigmas against people who practice ventriloquism!"

"I'm taking sympathy on your schizophrenia. Isn't that enough?"

Leni laughs a little at their banter, and before they can get too carried away, Luan shifts her focus again to the matter at hand.

"Anyway… Thanks for getting us these stockings, Len. You ready to go now or what?"

"Sure! I just gotta think of what I'm going to wear to the party. I don't wanna go as myself. That'd be silly."

"You could tell everyone you're going as a Mary Sue?" Maggie teases, earning her a sharp glare from Luan again. She doesn't fight it though. She just rolls her eyes and lets it go for the sake of keeping peace.

Luan then puts her proverbial thinking cap on as she hums to herself. "Well… Maybe we can pick something up on the way there? Or you can work with something you have here in the store?"

Leni looks around, taking this into consideration. "Hmm… That could work. But where do I start?"

For a few slow burning seconds, the three girls think over how to get Leni looking the part, and while nothing really comes to the Loud sisters, Maggie soon hatches an idea in her brain thanks to some cobwebs high up on the wall.

"Hey Leni… You're arachnophobic, right?"

"Arachna-what?" Leni questions, genuinely unsure what that words means.

Maggie doesn't elaborate though. Instead, she just grins wickedly with her idea. "Don't worry about it. Just trust me..."

* * *

"I look totes fashionable! Though, I have to admit, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be," Leni thinks aloud as she and her two spooky companions stroll down the sidewalks of Royal Woods on their way to Carol Pingrey's party. She knows her black dress, stockings, and frilled blouse are supposed to look scary, and she knows that the stringy black and white threads of netty stuff Maggie just happened to have with her are meant to 'complete the look,' as she said. But she doesn't understand why. Just like she doesn't understand what her super cool and cute black and white face paint is for.

"I made you a Spider Queen, Leni," Maggie bluntly answers in a way that seems so calm that maybe she just doesn't realize what Leni Loud's biggest fear is. Or maybe she knows and just doesn't care about what she knows will happen next.

"A what?! Ew, ew, ew!" Leni cries as she frantically begins spazzing out in the middle of the street, earning her all sorts of discomfited looks from the costumed passers-by going to parties and begging for candy from strangers.

"Maggie!" Luan cusses, showing her seldom seen legitimately upset side.

However, Maggie doesn't get excited. She just keeps calm as she explains her reasoning. "Relax, you're not _ew," _she's sure to begin with, knowing that Leni hearing she looks good will help tide her over just a little bit. "I made you what you fear most to try and help you overcome something that really bothers you. Kind of like how we're taking you to this party."

Despite her rugged, misleadingly careless looking exterior, Maggie does put a lot of thought into the few things she cares about. Her words put both Leni and Luan at ease.

"I- I guess that makes sense," the former says as she excuses herself from some of the glances she gets by those strangers she startled.

Maggie smirks with that."Yeah. Besides… You're totally a queen," she tells her, making her laugh giddily.

"Awww! Stop!"

Luan gets in on the fun with her own little wisecrack. "You flirtin' with my girl, Leni?" Her delivery must need some work though, because Leni takes it seriously.

"What? No?" she fretfully caterwauls.

Luan doesn't backtrack though. Instead, she just grins at Maggie, who grins back at her with some very affectionate words. "You're such a nub."

Their walking through the evening streets eventually takes them to 1231 Sanford Street, where one Carol Pingrey lives. Like many other houses in the neighborhood, all sorts of creepy and silly decorations are on display over her yard and house. Paper ghosts, plastic crawlies, candy corn decals, everything from Michael Myers to Casper The Friendly Ghost. They can hear the faint sound of the Ghostbusters theme song blaring from the open door, joined by the sights of flashing lights glaring out and the homeowners' daughter waiting with a basket of treats.

She wears both a smile and a homemade She-Ra Warrior Princess outfit, it's obvious with the way her armor actually shines instead of just being cheap plastic. "Bonjour fellow ghouls! Here for the party?" she greets.

Luan and Leni smile back at least, and Maggie just doesn't look totally hateful. "We sure are! We're looking for a _scary _good time!" Luan tells her on their behalf, earning a little laugh from Carol, and a somewhat concerned expression from Leni.

"Well, I'm happy to see you guys! Come on inside!" Carol assures them before switching her tone to get into the Halloween spirit. "But be warned… You'll have so much fun, you might literally die!"

Already on edge over the 'scary good time' remark, Leni absolutely _freaks _over that. "What?! I don't want to die!" she cries. "I'm too young and pretty to die!"

Maggie rolls her eyes, and Luan just nervously chuckles as she takes her older sister by the arm. "Heheh, it's a play on words, Len. No one's dying tonight," she's sure to let her know before practically dragging her by her feet to join them inside.

Carol just laughs a little. "Have fun!"

Upon stepping inside, they stop to take everything in. The fog from the fog machine, the cool colorful lights, the costumed party goers, the music…

"Wow!" Leni blurts out, her fear having left her upon such a neat view.

Luan smiles at her, "Glad you came along?" she simply asks.

Leni smiles back, letting that be a sufficient answer for her sister.

The spectacle has just begun though. As the Ghostbusters song comes to its closing verse, a new song begins to play over the PA system, the familiar first bassline of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Through the fog, a shape manifests, shimmying its way through to make itself evident. A red leather jacket clad figure with long, curly black hair stares intently as the three girls as it dances forward, its zombie painted face becoming clearer with every step. At first, there's some blossoming curiosity, even fear within the hearts of the teens; but then, they see those brown eyes, and they hear that familiar raspy voice.

"'Cause this is thriller! Thriller night! And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike!" Luna sings, getting everything right from the highest notes to the dance. It leaves quite the first impression on the new guests, especially Leni, who can't help but applaud and cheer.

"Oooh! This is spooky and fun!"

Luna doesn't respond with words. She has to stay in tune and time for the rest of her show. But she lets her sisters and friend know that they're in for a heck of a good time with a smile both wicked and inviting before moving on to the other party goers.

From there, a lot of fun is had between the three girls. They're met with many compliments for their tasteful costumes, from the fans of Nightmare Before Christmas to the people wowed by Leni's unique Spider-Queen attire. They play bobbing for apples, they share tricks and treats as they have candies and laughs over some of Luan's signature pranks. It serves as a very good distraction for Miss Leni Loud for a while. Those icky feelings she felt all day escape her for a couple hours.

Eventually though, she finds them coming back to her when Luan and Maggie break off from her to say hello to their friends from their Eco-Friends club. She thinks she'll be fine, she even tells them to go ahead without her for a little while. But then her eyes wander around the dimly lit room, catching glimpses of the groups of friends that huddle together to share in laughter. It makes her remember the fun she shares with Fiona and Miguel at the store just folding clothes, taking shots at Ms. Carmichael, getting lunch at every new place the food court has to offer. They really are so great to her, the best friends she's ever had…

She heavily sighs as she looks into a red solo cup with apple juice inside. She can't see her reflection thanks to the darkness and her face paint, but that's okay. She doesn't want to see herself right now anyway. The only people she wants to see are Miguel and…

"Fiona…"

She closes her eyes and leans her head against the wall behind her. Images of that brown eyed girl's smiling face and unamused frowns flood her mind's eye. This is the first time something this bad has happened between them. Any other time, they have nothing but fun together. Even when she gets angry and salty and grouchy because of customers, Ms. C, whatever… they always manage to make each other laugh. Smile. Feel like they have someone to lean on.

She isn't sure if she can make things right, but she realizes in this moment that if she doesn't try to take a step forward, she might really regret it. So, she takes her phone out of her pocket (after a few attempts to find it; it's dark and this is her first time wearing this dress), and unlocks it to make her way to the messaging app.

As she does, she feels a new presence hovering near her. Maybe it's a guy hoping to get her number, or Luan or Maggie, or even Michael Jackson Luna. She looks up to find that it's none of these people, though, but a stranger. A very ugly stranger.

"Yeesh," Leni can't help but utter upon seeing this girl with a grotesque looking Witch mask. At least, she hopes it's a mask.

The girl doesn't get offended though. Instead, she juta casually gets her some juice from the nearby punch bowl and laughs a little. "Well, looks like my costume works."

"What do you mean?" Leni asks her, scooching over a little to give the girl ample wallflower room beside her. She does her best to study the girl to see if she can recognize her, but with the dimness of the room and the way black cotton covers every inch of her body, she can't decipher much. Her mask doesn't offer much to recognize either, again, assuming it's a mask. The witch hat is a nice touch though. Still, something about the girl makes it easy to focus on her. Like she isn't a stranger at all.

"Well, I figured the best way to keep the Chad-boys away from me tonight would be to make myself as ugly as possible. So far, it's worked," the witch girl tells Leni. "You're actually the first person to try and talk to me besides Carol."

"Well, I try to be friendly," Leni says with a smile. For a moment afterwards, there is some silence, but she doesn't let it get awkward just yet. All that time working retail has helped her learn what kinds of questions to ask to strike conversation, and it also helps that she has ten siblings, all with unique styles. So something is sure to work, she believes. "Are you here alone?" she asks, noticing that this girl doesn't seem to have a beau with her.

"Yeah. It was kind of a last minute thing," she answers, only letting quiet perpetuate for a moment before adding, "You?"

"Uhm, sort of," Leni answers, choosing not to go into much more detail. She doesn't want to bore her potential new friend with the details of her miserable day or the fact that her younger sister and girlfriend were the ones to drag her here.

"Fair enough," the girl simply responds. She then scans Leni up and down for a few seconds, doing her best to get a read of who she is and, well… what she's supposed to be. "So what are you supposed to be anyway? It's a really cool costume, I just don't understand what you're supposed to be," she explains, doing her best to be polite about it. From the tone of her voice, Leni can see that that sort of thing isn't exactly her strong suit, but it doesn't rub her the wrong way. In fact, it flatters her a bit to think that maybe she's part of some sort of exclusive club of people who she takes the time to try and talk to this way. Heck, part of it gives her a familiar sense of security. Like she's talking to an old friend.

"Oh! I'm a Spider-Queen!" she chirps, doing a little curtsy to flaunt her fancy new dress. "My sister and her girlfriend helped me put it together. I'm actually here with them, just… not at the moment."

"Get tired of third wheeling?" the girl says with a tone that makes Leni think she's smiling behind her mask. "Don't worry, I get what that's like. Sometimes when I hang out with my two best friends they make me feel left out. But eh, I think it's a me problem."

If she was smiling, it must have waned with those last words. The girl's eyes look down to the drink in her hand as she swirls it around in her cup, probably losing herself in thought just as a certain someone has done many times today while waiting for their work shift to end. Maybe she's overthinking the details, she's known to do that sometimes. But if she isn't, she doesn't want to seem careless. That's just not cool. So, Leni hazards getting a little sentimental.

"I mean, maybe? But what if it's not? What if maybe you have a reason to feel left out?" she asks, only realizing after she says the words that she speaks from experience.

The Witch ponders the possibility for a moment, perking her neck as she looks to Leni again. "That's heavy stuff there, Spider-Queen. Something bothering you?"

Poo, she made it a little obvious. "I don't want to bother you with my problems if you're feeling crummy. You should focus on making yourself feel better!" she insists, earning her a little laugh from the Witch.

"I mean, that's kind of why I came to this stupid party. But so far all it's done is remind me how ugly I really am. On the inside, I mean."

Subtlety isn't on their sides tonight. They read through each other's hints like cryptic venting Tweets. Misery makes good company, and while they may not be able to get what they want, they find solace in each other, knowing now that they can at least have that.

"I don't believe that. You seem really nice," Leni offers with a weak smile, but the Witch is reluctant to accept it so easily. She crooks her neck to the side, wincing.

"Yeah, well, not as nice as my best friend. She's… I wish I was a lot more like her," she admits, but it isn't jealousy or envy in her voice. It's remorse. "She always has nice things to say, she always looks for the good in everything. Meanwhile I just whine and complain and find excuses to be angry."

"You say that like you're not allowed to complain about stuff."

Spider-Queen's quick rebuttal catches her somewhat off guard. Like, she almost didn't expect such wit from her for some reason. Even so, she does her best to roll with it, does her best to tell how she feels. "I think it's more like, just because I can, should I? Like…" She falters though, realizing that maybe she won't be able to. Or perhaps like maybe she just shouldn't. "Ah, forget it,"

"No, tell me," Leni beseechingly replies. She throws more caution to the wind with her next words, but she with the day she's had, she doesn't overthink the results of her actions. She just goes with how she feels. "If you want me to be honest, I'm already kind of in a poopy mood too, so maybe we can help each other feel better, ya know?"

Witch girl doesn't get flustered or weirded out though. She doesn't decide to stop having this conversation to go bob for apples. Instead, she contemplates everything that's been said between the two strangers, wondering not only where to go from here, but also how this girl could trust her so. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

There it is, the million treat question. Where two masquerades remain, two others have been dropped. No one else at this party matters right now. Just a Witch and a Spider-Queen. And while Leni wants to focus solely on that and helping her new friend, she can't help but let the events of the last two days weigh heavily on her mind. Everything reminds her of Fiona, everything reminds her of how she should have been more patient, more understanding, less _selfish _towards her. She may not have been able to give Fiona that courtesy, but she'll do her best to grant it to Witch girl. After all...

"Well… You kind of remind me of someone I wish I could be nicer to…"

While the room is dark and crowded, the way this strange girl with the very ugly mask looks to Leni upon hearing that makes her freeze with sweltering anxiety. In those golden eyes of hers, there's a certain compassion she's come to know, one she's felt a few times before. She isn't able to put her finger on just where, but she's felt it this before. This science of understanding, this familiar extension of trust with people outside of her ten siblings and parents. There's so much excitement to contend with tonight at this party, but even then, she's able to gaze into those eyes in an attempt to share that same energy. This same… friendship.

Things are going well, almost perfectly. It's certainly the least convenient time for something unexpected to go wrong… which, being a party for teenagers, of course something does.

The lights all go black, stalling the room into a dark standstill. No one moves, everyone gasps. Except for Leni Loud. She hurriedly wraps her terrified arms around this strange Witch girl, letting out a fretful "Ah!" of a yelp as she does. She closes her eyes and squeezes tight, hoping that this newfound distress will just whisk away quickly. At least with everything else that happened today, she knew what she was in for.

Thankfully, Witch girl doesn't freak out. Not over the darkness, not over this colorful stranger hugging her for dear life over something as silly as a blackout. She keeps a level head, even offering Spider-Girl a comforting hand on the back to let her know that it's okay to keep clung to her for a little while longer.

Everyone begins scanning the room, their eyes slowly adjusting to the blackness, and just when they begin getting used to it, a green light emerges from the center of the room. And with it, a matching fog. The light emanates from a wooden dummy in a black suit sitting alone in the middle of the room, idly sitting on a stool.

The spectators watch with suspense, and belatedly, very slowly, the dummy finally moves, cranking and cracking its neck as it turns to look to the partiers. More remarkably, it speaks! "Trick… or… treat. Give me… something… good to… eat. If you… don't… I don't… care!..."

"I'LL GIVE YOU ALL A GREAT BIG SCARE!" It finishes with a shout, the glowing, hovering heads of dozens more dummies flying down to around the room to startle everyone from Luna Loud to Carol Pingrey. And of course, Leni and her new friend she clings to.

However, the horror is short lived. Just a few seconds after, the lights come back on, and it's revealed that the first dummy is none other than Luan Loud's Mr. Coconuts as she jumps from behind his stool to laugh a hearty laugh at everyone's fear. "Hahaha, hahaha! Happy Halloween everybody!" she declares, and while some of the party goers are unamused at first, they learn to forgive the jester as her puppet heads open their mouths to dump out candies.

With the worst of the commotion finished, Leni allows herself to calm down to stop squeezing Witch girl so tightly. She musters a weak little laugh as she faces her, "Sorry, I didn't mean to grab you like that."

With the return of some lighting and the endorphins in her body rearranging around, her focus returns to Leni almost like it's her first time noticing her tonight. She also catches a familiar scent from her, and it makes her mind wander… "You smell like cucumber melon. Wait, who did you say you are?" she asks.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Leni Loud!" Leni chirps, extending a hand to shake it. "It's nice to meet you!"

It's as if a proverbial light bulb flickers on above Witch girl's head as she realizes the irony of her situation, and it shows with the way she laughs and perks up. "Leni, it's me!"

It's kind of a funny name, but Leni's learned not to judge people at this juncture. It could be a foreign name. "Uh, hi Me?" she offers, shaking the girl's hand until she pulls it away to laugh again.

"No- ugh… It's me! Fiona!" Witch girl reveals, taking off her mask to reveal her much, _much _prettier real face.

Bewilderment. Absolute awe. That's what Leni feels as she realizes that she's been talking to her best friend all along. She's able to work through diarrhea of the mouth to compose some actual King's English though. "Fiona?! W-What are you? You looked- That mask made you really ugly!"

"That was the point!" Fiona laughs again, really enjoying herself. But the laughter dies down, and a certain kind of sadness comes to her eyes as she too realizes she's been talking to her best friend Leni Loud all along. "I guess it reflects how I feel right now…"

With those words, they remember just what brought them here in the first place. For a little while, they were graced with the ignorance of being two strangers with similar somberness, able to confide in one another with the pretense that they're secrets could be safe. Now? Now they're practically forced to work through the issues that boggled them down all day. Which in a way is going to be super difficult. After all, they're argument was pretty heated. At the same time… it's going to be a little easier now that they can tell where they're coming from. And they already sort of hugged.

"I'm so- No I- No you-" they talk over each other, both trying and failing to take initiative.

Leni is able to get her foot in the door first before an awkward pause can last too long though. "What were you trying to say?"

The brunette sighs, not overthinking what she wants to say. She just pulls what she's feeling from the hat of her heart, ready to put these crappy feelings behind her once and for all. "Leni, I'm really sorry about earlier," she tells her, and she stops as if to regain some composure, maybe to put some deeper thought into an apology.

But Leni doesn't politely wait for it. No, instead, she gives in to the fiery, phoenix like temptation burning inside of her, choosing to say what she feels needs said first. "You know what? No. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"But you shouldn't. You were right about… well, some of the things you said," Fiona interjects, showing some hesitation. And Leni can read why. She may not be able to play elaborate guitar solos like Luna, or pass tests really easily like Lisa, but she is good at reading people. She has faith in that.

"Yeah, but I was wrong about the things I said too. I know Tristibelle means a lot to you," she says, dropping the bombshell of a ship name to show that she's willing to go to heavy blows if she has to. Anything to make things right with her best friend.

It shows, and it forces Fiona to really take pause now. She has to take time to get her words right. The last thing she wants is for excited outbursts to happen again. That, and she wants Leni to see just how sorry she really is. "I never meant to make you feel bad about your… ship," she struggles to say, feeling a little embarrassed over the fact that they could get so worked up over something fictional. But it's their passion. It's the thing they care a lot about. So she fights through any embarrassment to bring the cards to the table. "I just, I've felt like I can't talk to anyone about it. Like Tristibelle is a dirty word or something."

Leni takes that in, feeling her heart sink. "Yeah, I know what you mean…" she utters, her feelings for Tristunny coming back to her mind. But as much as she loves her crackship, (and it really is a crackship), she loves Fiona much more. Enough to sacrifice herself to let her have what's left.

As if she actually would accept that. "And I'm sorry for that! I really am!" Fiona blurts out. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel bad for liking Tristin and Sunny! I just… I dunno, I want you to be happy with your thing, I want to be able to be happy about my thing. I don't want anyone hurting anyone anymore…"

Leni takes a deep breath, allowing herself to digest her friend's words. She knows she means them, she knows she really feels that way. And while part of her is still angry about the things said before, she knows deep down that to make this work, she'll have to compromise too. And if Fiona can do it, than she wants to be able to just as well.

"You know, maybe we aren't going to be able to get into each other's things. Maybe we are meant to disagree on them," she begins with some somberness, but a smile soon comes to her face with better thoughts. "But that doesn't mean we can't support each other, right?"

Seeing the smile in her eyes, wanting the sound of her laughter, Fiona feels a glimmer of light flickering in her chest, a smile of her own coming to her lips. "I'd hope so. And I'd hope we support Miguel too. I know his Werewolf Stan thing makes it hard, but the good outweighs the bad, right?"

The good outweighs the bad. Something about those words resonates with Leni in a way she can't describe, but she can easily identify. She knows it's a good thing, yet she knows it's imperfect. No, they can't fix everything, they can't always be on the same page. But the fact that they can overlook the things that could drive each other apart to focus on the things that bring them together fills her heart with the warmest, fuzziest feeling she could imagine.

"I'd like to think so," she tells her best friend, and feeling these sentimental feelings, it isn't long before they share a hug. It burns slow for a few seconds, they squeezes they give one another truly signifying that they're ready to love again. Ready to forgive, ready to forget.

It also makes it easy to remember other things, like the face that, sooner than later, Leni has to have a similar discussion with the third member of their Best Friend Squad. "So where is Miguel anyway?" she asks Fiona upon disengaging from the hug.

"Oh, he's trick o' treating with his nieces. So it's just me tonight," Fiona tells her, laughing a little nervously as she rubs the back of her neck.

While it disappoints Leni a little to learn this, she almost shamelessly is glad that it gives her more one on one time with the girl she just made up with. "You mean it's just _us_tonight!" she happily responds before taking the other girl by her hand. "Come on, let's dance," she tells her with a smile.

A smile that's returned with another. "I'd love to, Spider-Queen."

With that, Fiona leaves her mask behind to go and get on the dance floor with her best friend in the world, ready to boogie down to all of the signature Halloween jams from Monster Mash to This is Halloween. She knows more laughs and smiles will be shared, which is what is to be expected from her best friend Leni Loud every day of the year.

Similar expectations that Maggie has for her girlfriend Luan Loud. She just wishes she could approach her from behind without making her jump with fright.

"AH!" Luan yelps upon realizing it, and Maggie frowns.

"I wasn't even trying to scare you! What's wrong with you Louds?!"

Luan takes a little offense to it, actually. "Hey, it's not my fault you need to work on how you come up to people!"

Now Maggie takes offense, and she lets it be known. "Well, maybe you're right. And maybe you need to learn on leaving your house without taking your doll everywhere! I told you to leave it at home!" she cusses regarding Mr. Coconuts.

Luan is about to retort, she even raises a finger and opens her mouth like she's about to speak. But she doesn't. Instead, she just closes her mouth so that a smile can some to her skeleton painted face. It confuses Maggie at first, but she doesn't get too anxious as her girlfriend tiptoes closer to her. "You know… I may have tricked you once tonight, but I might just have a little treat for you," she says to her, an alluring look in her eyes.

Maggie wants to frown, she wants to look angry. But she can't. Instead, she eyes widen, and she feels her chest get fuzzy as Luan comes closer. "Oh?" she simply says.

"Yeah," Luan only responds before planting her Sally's lips with a kiss, ready to shut her up the nice way. She doesn't want to fight, she doesn't want to argue. She just wants her favorite girl in the world to know she loves her. And while it's a cheap trick, Maggie _knows _it is… it works. Because she warmly smiles back at her.

Only for Luan to pull freakin' Mr. Coconuts from behind her back. "Happy Halloween, toots!"

"OH COME ON!"

THE END.

* * *

**Hey ghouls and girls, thanks for checking this out. I just wanted to write something about Leni and Fiona after seeing the awesome "Leader of the Rack" episode, and I wanted to do something for Halloween because I love the holiday season. I threw Luaggie in here too because A), I liked the idea of Luan and Leni bonding, and B) the world can never have too much Luaggie.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I hope you'll stay tuned for what's to come. I wholly intend to finally get back on Christmas Carol now, so hopefully my next update will be that.**

**So yeah, until next time true believers, have a very Happy Halloween, and I hope you all get many more treats than tricks! Thanks so much for reading! :)**


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